Loss on Fermenting and Drying
The fermented cacao is conveyed from the fermentary to the drying trays or floors. The planter often has some rough check-weighing system. Thus, for example, he notes the number of standard baskets of wet cacao put into the fermentary, and he measures the fermented cacao produced with the help of a bottomless barrel. By this means he finds that on fermentation the beans lose weight by the draining away of the “sweatings,” according to the amount and juiciness of the pulp round them. The beans are still very wet, and on drying lose a high percentage of their moisture by evaporation before the cacao bean of commerce is obtained.
The average losses may be tabulated thus:
| Weight of wet cacao from pod | 100 |
| Loss on fermentation | 20 to 25 |
| Loss on drying | 40 |
| Cacao beans of commerce obtained | 35 to 40 |
The drying of cacao is an art. On the one hand it is necessary to get the beans quite dry (that is, in a condition in which they hold only their normal amount of water—5 to 7 per cent.) or they will be liable to go mouldy. On the other hand, the husk or shell of the bean must not be allowed to become burned or brittle. Brittle shells produce waste in packing and handling, and broken shells allow grubs and mould to enter the beans when the cacao is stored. The method of drying varies in different countries according to the climate. José says: “In the wet season when ‘Father Sol’ chooses to lie low behind the clouds for days and your cocoa house is full, your curing house full, your trees loaded, then is the time to put on his mettle the energetic and practical planter. In such tight corners, amigo, I have known a friend to set a fire under his cocoa house to keep the cocoa on the top somewhat warm. Another friend’s plan (and he recommended it) was to address his patron saint on such occasions. He never addressed that saint at other times.”
In most producing areas sun-drying is preferred, but in countries where much rain falls, artificial dryers are slowly but surely coming into vogue. These vary in pattern from simple heated rooms, with shelves, to vacuum stoves and revolving drums. The sellers of these machines will agree with me when I say that every progressive planter ought to have one of these artificial aids to use during those depressing periods when the rain continually streams from the sky. On fine days it is difficult to prevent mildew appearing on the cacao, but at such times it is impossible. However, whenever available, the sun’s heat is preferable, for it encourages a slow and even drying, which lasts over a period of about three days. As Dr. Paul Preuss says: “II faut éviter une dessiccation trop rapide. Le cacao ne peut être séché en moins de trois jours.” 5 Further, most observers agree with Dr. Sack that the valuable changes, which occur during fermentation, continue during drying, especially those in which oxygen assists. The full advantage of these is lost if the temperature used is high enough to kill the enzymes, or if the drying is too rapid, both of which may occur with artificial drying.
Sun-drying is done on cement or brick floors, on coir mats or trays, or on wooden platforms. In order to dry the cacao uniformly it is raked over and over in the sun. It must be tenderly treated, carefully “watched and caressed,” until the interior becomes quite crisp and in colour a beautiful brown.
Sometimes the platforms are built on the top of the fermentaries, the cacao being conveyed through a hole in the roof of the fermentary to the drying platform.
In Trinidad the platform always has a sliding roof, which can be pulled over the cacao in the blaze of noon or when a rainstorm comes on. In other places, sliding platforms are used which can be pushed under cover in wet weather.